www.jec.org.uk

My 2003 XK8 has the standard six speed ZF automatic j gate gearbox and earlier this year developed a whine when accelerating in the lower gears which becomes more pronounced as the engine gets up to temperature. I have taken it to a ZF specialist who thinks it may be the pump at fault but he needs to strip the box down to find out(at a basic cost of around £1400) As I know nothing about automatic gearboxes and especially Jaguar ones I didn’t know there was a pump in the gearbox.
I wondered if anyone else has suffered this problem and what the answer may be. I had the gearbox serviced last year at around 70000 miles so it can’t need a service
Any help and advice very welcome.

Servicing an auto box only consists of replacing the oil and filter. No checks would have been carried out on its internals as part of a service. Tracing noises, like whines, is always difficult because sound may travel along deceptive pathways. Before condemning the gearbox, which is usually reliable with regular oil changes, I would ask a Jaguar specialist to eliminate any possibility that the whine may be coming from the engine whose speed variations will mirror those of the gearbox. For example, incorrectly tensioned engine belts are a more common source of whines than ZF gearboxes. Mike.